Friday, 21 September 2012

And our journey comes to an end…….

Today, here, at our school we are celebrating the International Day of Peace. We will have a peace circle with our parents and teachers and we will talk about what makes us peaceful, about what peace means when we are alone, and what peace means when we engage with others. It will be fun!

Well, for today’s lunches, we have, Sophia S., Anabelle and Camila.

Sophia’s lunch is composed of many parts – in fact, today it includes all of her all-time favorites. Let’s start with her sandwich, a vegemite and butter sandwich on sourdough bread (her favorite, her mother told us). Vegemite sandwiches are a staple in Australian children’s lunch boxes. They are the Australian equivalent to the US peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Have you ever tried one? She also has three slices of salami, for protein, sliced cucumbers, raspberries – and one Tim Tam, because every lunch box needs mostly healthy food and occasionally a treat! (Tim Tams are an Australian biscuit.)

Anabelle has Macaroni and cheese today, with peas and turkey hot dog, and strawberries for dessert. This is a typical American dish. Her family shared a fun fact about this dish: July 14th is National Macaroni and Cheese Day and is also Anabelle’s Papa’s birthday!

We will finish our week at NeverSeconds with Camila’s dish! As you can see we come full circle – we saw empanadas on Monday, and that’s what Camila has for lunch today.
Camila’s mother sent some more information about empanadas: they were first made in Spain and Portugal. They were portable and filling meals for working people. They were carried to Latin America by Spanish and Portuguese colonists. Camila also has apples, as her treat.

And so, from New York, we bid you all farewell! But Martha, NeverSeconds and Mary’s Meals will stay with us. Martha reminded us that you don’t need to grow up to change the world, you can start at any time!

Meals seem a bit more rounded today. What did Camila have in her empanadas? I know they usually have meat in them but anything else? I like how fruit is a treat instead of biscuits and sugary snacks all the time like many American children. Sweets are a now and then thing, not something that needs to be eaten daily. :) Well done JAM :) Well done

Hi, Camila had meat inside hers. Her mother said they can also be made with just about any filling, such as, chicken, haru & cheese, onion, etc.On a prior post you asked about Alexandra, she was born in the US but has Greek and British heritage.Cheers,Paula

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed this week's lunches. It was interesting to see such varied meals from children of different backgrounds/ethnicities. Thank you for a wonderful collaborative effort between Veg, the teachers, parents and kids of JAM!

This blog ia awesome! I teach 3rd grade in the USA. Our school lunch looks borrid compared to some of the yummy ones found in other places (and the other states). I swear there is no nutritional value in them. I'll take a picture and send it to you.

This has been an interesting week with a variety of food types shown, many of them it seems with a reasonable balance between nutrition and 'fun', which I'm sure is helpful with younger children (a stage I have long since left behind, sadly) - I hope the children do take advantage of the days when they can try different foods, taking account of any food allergies/prohibitions. As for empanadas, yes I like them a lot, although we do not see them so much in the part of Spain where I now spend some of the year (and I where I am for the next month or so), the Mediterranean coast, but there are some slightly-similar dishes amongst tapas here. However, I do think empanadas do have certain similarities to 'Cornish Pasties' (south-west of England) although these tend to be considerably larger, so that even an adult would only eat one at a time, usually as a 'portable' lunch - like many such 'peasant' dishes it probably originated when people did a lot more physical labour than most of us do today.